Merida, Yucatan — Consul General Courtney Beale and Jim Adams of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations celebrated the beginning of the construction of the new U.S. Consulate General in Merida.
The official groundbreaking ceremony was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but progress on the site continues. The new building is being designed by Miller Hull Partnership of Seattle and BL Harbert International is the construction contractor.
The multibuilding complex will be situated in the Via Montejo development and will represent an investment of nearly $150 million U.S. The consulate has been designed to reflect the beauty of the surrounding area, including an internal water feature representing the cenote presence in the region.
The consulate says an estimated workforce of over a thousand American and Mexican nationals will be engaged over the course of the construction of the new consulate, adding that a vast majority will be local workers.
“We look forward to celebrating the official groundbreaking with our Mexican friends in the coming months. The new U.S. Consulate General in Merida will provide a larger, more modern building from which to provide visa services and assist U.S. citizens throughout the Yucatan Peninsula.
“It is a strong and enduring symbol of the friendship and important bilateral partnership between the United States and the people of Mexico,” said Beale.
The project is expected to be complete in 2023.
